Geoffrey Cantor Steps In For Karen Carpenter as Director of OCTOBER 7

OCTOBER 7, a verbatim play about the terrorist attacks on Israel as told by those who survived them, today announced its full cast and a new director, as Geoffrey Cantor (Marvel's Daredevil & The Punisher on Netflix) steps in for Karen Carpenter as the production's director. Ms. Carpenter has stepped down due to a bout with pneumonia. The limited run begins Thursday May 2, and continues through Sunday, June 16, with opening night set for Monday May 13 at Actors Temple Theatre (339 West 47th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues) - a synagogue built in the 1920s that now also operates an Off-Broadway theatre.  For tickets and more information visit the button below.

Best known as an actor (Daredevil, Hail, Ceasar!, all the Law and Orders) Geoffrey Cantor began directing at Amherst College. In London, he developed the play-reading series Readings at One at the Duke of York's Theater in the West End, where he directed the London premier reading of Allan Knee's The Man Who was Peter Pan, (upon which the film Finding Neverland was based). Other projects include New York. Circa. 1909. which he co-wrote and directed (Soho Playhouse),  Sweet Texas Reckoning (Hudson Guild), Stripped, James McLure's double-bill of Lone Star and Laundry & Bourbon (Jalopy Theater), Prey (NYfringe 2010), For Our Daughters (Staten Island), My Secret Public Seder (Original written for the Bergen County JCCY), Winterglass (Original), and Cowboys II. His narrative film directorial debut, the short film EnSuite won multiple awards on the festival circuit, and his documentatry Talking OutLOUD: Teens & Suicide Loss, A Conversation, created for the non-profit Rethink The Conversation, has started its festival journey. Geoffrey graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College with a degree in theater. During his junior year, he attended the National Theater Institute (Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Conn), and continued his training at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, in London, England.

The cast of OCTOBER 7 features Alyssa Simon, Jenny Anne Hochberg, Rebecca Lynn Goldfarb, Jonas Barranca, Lynne Taylor, Marissa O'Donnell, Leora Kalish, Nathan Vincenti, Randy Schein, Paul Louis, René Ifrah, Salma  Qaurnain, Yair Ben-Dor, and Jeff Gurner.

Written by Phelim McAleer, OCTOBER 7 tells the story of Israel's darkest day by using dramatic accounts of those who lived through it. OCTOBER 7 is a 100 percent verbatim play consisting entirely of stories from those who were there. The interviews were conducted by veteran Irish journalists Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney who traveled to Israel in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.

Ann McElhinney is a New York Times best-selling author, journalist, podcaster, film producer and director and one of the most successful crowdfunders in the world. Together with her husband, Phelim McAleer, she has raised $6m in 8 separate crowdfunding campaigns. Their movie Gosnell – The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer was the most successful film project ever on Indiegogo. It raised $2.3m in just 45 days. She is a producer on the My Son Hunter movie (2022), starring Laurence Fox and Gina Carano. McElhinney produced the play FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers based on the text messages of Lisa Page and Peter Strzok. Other plays produced by McElhinney include Ferguson, Obamagate, Oh Gosnell: A Play About The Truth and Mermaids Vs. The Alliance. She produced and co-wrote the movie Gosnell - The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer. She and her husband, journalist Phelim McAleer wrote the NYT Best Seller Gosnell – The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer. The book debuted at #3 Amazon Best Seller and sold out in 3 days after publication. McElhinney has made documentaries for the BBC, CBC (Canada) and RTE (Ireland). The Search for Tristan's Mum concerned the case of Tristan Dowse, a baby who was adopted and later abandoned by an Irish man and his wife in Indonesia. McElhinney was featured in and was the Associate Producer of the highly controversial documentary Return to Sender (2005) for CBC about the adoption of a Romanian child by a rich Canadian couple who years later sent the child back. McElhinney has also written for or appeared on FOX News, CNN, BBC, CBC (Canada), ABC (Australia), RTE (Ireland), The Sunday Times and The Irish Times. She has worked as a journalist and filmmaker in the US, Canada, Romania, Bulgaria, Chile, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Ghana and Uganda. 
 
Phelim McAleer is an award-winning journalist, filmmaker, public speaker, and podcaster.  He is a New York Timesbest-selling author and one of the most successful crowdfunders in the world. Together with his wife, Ann McElhinney, he has raised $6m in 8 separate crowdfunding campaigns. Their movie Gosnell – The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer was the most successful film project ever on Indiegogo. It raised $2.3 million in just 45 days. A veteran journalist Phelim was a foreign correspondent for the Financial Times in Eastern Europe, and he covered Romania and Bulgaria for The Economist.  Before that, he covered Ireland for the UK Sunday Times. McAleer began his career in journalism covering the Northern Ireland Troubles first as a reporter in Crossmaglen, south Armagh (known as Bandit Country) and then for The Irish News in Belfast. He was the night Editor of the Irish News in Belfast during the Troubles. McAleer produced and co-wrote the movie Gosnell - The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer. He co-wrote the NYT Best Seller Gosnell – The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer. The book debuted at #3 Amazon Best Seller and sold out in 3 days after publication. McAleer has produced and written several podcasts with his wife Ann McElhinney, including The Ann & Phelim Scoop Podcast, The Harvey Weinstein Trial: Unfiltered Podcast and Serial Killer: A True Crime Podcast, which reached the top 10 in all true crime podcasts worldwide.McAleer has produced documentaries for the BBC, CBC (Canada) and RTE (Ireland), as well as two independent feature-length documentaries. 

Actors Temple Theatre has been an Off-Broadway theatre since 2006. Recent productions include Soul Doctor, Zero Hour, Who's Your Baghdaddy, Don't Leave It All To Your Children!, The Big Voice: God or Merman? and The J.A.P. Show: Jewish American Princesses of Comedy. Actors' Temple was founded in 1917 as the West Side Hebrew Relief Association. Over time a bond formed between the shul and Jews working in the surrounding show business industry. Talent from vaudeville, musical theater, nightclubs, live television and the dramatic stage made the synagogue a true Actors Temple. Former members include Al Jolson, Sophie Tucker, Red Buttons, three of the Marx Brothers, Joe E. Lewis, Sandy Koufax, Edward G. Robinson, two of The Three Stooges, Jack Benny, Shelley Winters and Henny Youngman.

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